Take the Chance
by UchihanoChidori
Summary: Highschool AU drabble for Valentine's Day. Naruto thought that he'd lost the chance to confess his feelings to his crush, but it turns out things went better than expected.


**A/N:** Okay guys, this is a prompt shared with me via private message from an anon. They wanted Highschool soulmates AU, and I had this idea of writing it mixed with something for Valentine's Day. So, even if it's a bit late, I hope you guys can enjoy it!

This is so simple and fluffy it kind of makes me sick, but I don't know, I was feeling sappy while writing this. I suppose I'm getting old xD

Just a little sweet something.

Not betaed.

* * *

 **TAKE THE CHANCE**

Uzumaki Naruto's footsteps were heavy, the soles of his sneakers echoing throughout the walls of the empty school corridor. He huffed loudly, the action causing both his upper and lower lips to flap aggressively against each other. He immediately regretted having done it because his mouth felt horribly itchy now, which was highly unpleasant and not helping his already shitty mood at all. Annoyed at himself, and at the whole world in general, he rubbed his mouth with the palm of his hand to soothe the stinging feeling there.

The last remaining rays of sun filtered through the windows at his right, announcing that night would soon fall upon the city.

He should've been home by now, slumped in his sofa playing video games; but no, he was still at school, hungry as hell, pissed off beyond reason, and just as tired.

Fucking Gai-sensei and his never-ending lectures on fitness and healthy eating habits. All Naruto had wanted was to put away the basket balls in peace.

To make things worse, he remembered that he had forgotten his wallet inside his desk in his classroom, and without it, he couldn't stop by somewhere and grab something to eat on his way home.

Although, he still had those cookies he was supposed to have given a certain someone.

He sighed in defeat, feeling his chest tight with desolation. This was the worst Valentine's day ever, he thought miserably. He hadn't been gifted with chocolate at all, and to make matters worse, after years of pinning, just when he'd _finally_ gained the courage confess to the love of his life, it had been literally impossible because said person had been completely surrounded by fangirls all fucking day.

He was just turning left to enter the corridor that would lead to his destination when a distant screeching noise filled his senses, forcing him to slow down.

Was there someone still in the building? Well, of course there was, school only closed the gates at 8p.m., and surely, there were still cleaning ladies, teachers and genitors lurking around.

Still, the noise seemed to have come from a classroom, and now that Naruto was able to focus more carefully, he realized that he could heard rock music, or metal, or… something of the sort.

He grabbed the strap of his backpack and squeezed it. As he got closer and the music became clearer, he realized it was coming from the last room on the left of the corridor – his classroom. Someone was still in there.

Great, now he had to make small talk just to grab his phone. It usually wasn't so much of a problem since he was a sociable person by nature, and on another occasion, he'd be more than happy to have someone to walk home with since all of his usual mates had already left, but that day he really, _really_ just wanted to grab his wallet and leave.

He walked the remaining distance with steady steps, ready to just get in there, keep the conversation short and get on with minding his own business. However, just as he was ready to storm inside the classroom, his right foot suspended in the air and about to land on the floor of the room, his eyes fell upon the person inside and his body convulsed in shock.

Luckily for himself, his hand was fast in covering his own mouth from letting out a gasp of surprise as he clumsily jumped backwards and to the side to conceal himself behind the opened sliding door, his heart beating frantically against his ribcage.

Why was _he_ there at such a late hour? And was he listening to…?

 _No way_. It just had to be too coincidental that he'd like that band. No, that song. It was Naruto's favorite song.

Naruto swallowed hard, placing both hands on the door and resting his forehead on the surface, between them, trying hard to keep his breathing under control.

It was just his luck that his crush from five years had to be there, all by himself. Anyone else would've been ecstatic at the prospect, but Naruto knew differently because Uchiha Sasuke wasn't only his crush – he was his rival as well, and unfortunately, someone with whom Naruto had bickered, argued and even fought with many times. While it was true that Sasuke was very attractive, smart and naturally good at everything he did, it was also true that he had quite the feisty temper. Well, said temper pissed Naruto off, but was also one of the things he found very attractive about his classmate.

It didn't really help that Naruto had literally screwed up every chance he ever had of making things right with the other teen, so he supposed he could only blame himself for the fact that, during those five years, they had barely spoken to each other apart from exchanging insults and, yes, a few punches, too.

"Fuck…" Naruto muttered under his breath, closing his eyes.

It had been too long since he had first started feeling that way towards his classmate. He knew he liked Sasuke because inside of him lay a huge pile of admiration, desire and all sorts of comfy and confusing emotions that made him feel incredibly good and simultaneously sad; but there was also a great wave of jealousy and competitiveness that sometimes made him want to smash Sasuke's head against a wall of nails. It unnerved him that the other male couldn't see him, couldn't understand that all Naruto wanted was to be noticed and acknowledged by him. To Sasuke, he was nothing but a loud, obnoxious nuisance.

In spite of this, he couldn't help but be helplessly enamored.

It took a whole month for Naruto to come to terms with the fact that he had to get some nuts and to confess to Sasuke, otherwise he'd regret it forever. They'd be graduating in just a few months, and more and more, Naruto had felt like he simply could not part ways with Sasuke without telling him his true feelings. Granted, he had no idea how the other would react – hell, he didn't even know if Sasuke liked guys, or even if he liked anything at all since he'd never had a girlfriend that Naruto had seen – but regardless, he had to give it a go.

Naruto had also even spent days mentally preparing himself for rejection, and even the possibility of Sasuke being a complete bastard by mocking him and making his life hell for the rest of year by humiliating him publicly. Well, Sasuke wasn't a bully by no means, and within his group of friends, he seemed like a genuinely nice guy – he'd even helped Naruto out a few times in surprising moments – so Naruto liked to believe that, even if he was rejected, Sasuke wouldn't torture him about it.

He had no idea what Sasuke's feelings for him were, but he thought – or hoped – that not all of them were negative.

All that mattered was Naruto's pride. He wanted to be able to say that, at the very least, he had tried confessing to the person that had been the bane of his existence for years, and Valentine's day seemed to be the perfect occasion. Even if he was rejected, at least he'd feel proud of himself for having accomplished such a goal.

However, Sasuke had been assaulted the moment he had entered school that day, with girls – and a few guys – drowning him with chocolate offerings and love proclamations at every given chance, and Naruto hadn't been able to get him alone not even for a single second.

It was devastating. He knew, for a fact, that Sasuke hated sweets, so he had immediately ditched the idea of giving him chocolate. Instead, he had searched the internet for a recipe of salted cookies and had decided to bake himself a few that were crunchy and nutty – like he knew Sasuke appreciated. Despite his best efforts, they had been a little overcooked, but yummy all the same – or so he thought – so, he put them inside a proper transparent bag and tied it with colorful ribbons to which he had attached a heart shaped paper with a small note that had a few simple words inscribed in it, as well as his signature.

But, he hadn't been able to give them to Sasuke at all.

He peeked inside the classroom, noticing that the other teen was leaning on his desk – a couple ones down from Naruto's – with a hand inside the pocket of his trousers while the other one held his cellphone. He seemed to be browsing something as his head moved slightly to the rhythm of the music as his lips silently muttered words to the visibly known song. At his feet, his backpack could be seen, as well as a large bag nearly overflowing with chocolate boxes and other cutely wrapped gifts, some still waiting to be open, it seemed.

Naruto held his breath. What was Sasuke doing there? The guy had always been popular, but this year – probably because it was his last – the gifts had been an exaggeration. Naruto had actually believed that Sasuke would definitely get himself a girlfriend, or at least a date even if just to have some fun and spend Valentine's day with someone.

But no, he was there; looking absolutely stunning in his nonchalant way, locks of his dark stylish hair framing his handsome face, his beautiful dark grey eyes soft. The sight alone made amazing things happen to Naruto's heart.

Swallowing hard, Naruto licked at his lips and reminded himself to breathe. Then, he ran a hand through his hair and tried to look as composed as possible before deciding to move and enter the classroom.

Sasuke's head immediately snapped up at his presence and Naruto felt his hands shake. "Hi," he said, as casually as possible as he slowly approached his own desk.

"Hi," Sasuke greeted back, in his deep voice, his eyes following Naruto attentively.

"I didn't think anyone would be here," Naruto muttered, feeling himself grin for some stupid reason because he didn't know what to do with himself – he'd never been completely alone with Sasuke before. "I just forgot something… Gai-sensei held me back with his constant blabbering."

Why was he even explaining himself?

"He tends to do that, yes," Sasuke agreed, in a surprisingly polite tone that Naruto wasn't used to listening to, least of all directed at him. Sasuke was still looking at him, and it was unnerving because it was so very different from the times they had pretended to ignore each other, or the times they had defiantly stared at each other to see who would falter first. This was… definitely different, but Naruto didn't really understand how.

"Cool song," Naruto commented, reaching his desk and putting a hand over it, torn between wanting to leave as soon as possible and the desire to try and make conversation with Sasuke. "You're waiting for someone? It's kind of late. Not that's any of my business!" He immediately corrected, before Sasuke could throw the remark his way.

To his surprise, Sasuke actually smirked at him – something that many times had pissed Naruto off, but that, now, had a hint of mystery to it. Naruto thought that smirk was devastatingly sexy.

"It's my favorite song," Sasuke said, indulging Naruto. "And yes, I was waiting for someone."

Pursing his lips together, Naruto absently caressed the surface of his desk. Sasuke's favorite song was his favorite song, too. Who would've known.

However, this happiness was quickly replaced by a sinking feeling of disappointment that made his stomach churn, but he tried not to let it get to him. So, Sasuke was going out with someone, apparently, and whoever it was, he was waiting for them. If Naruto had had any hope of confessing upon seeing his classmate, it was destroyed completely. If Sasuke was already seeing someone, telling him about his feelings would just be inconvenient and insensitive, and Naruto didn't want to make a fool of himself right after the other had bluntly made a statement.

"Ah, yeah," he said, forcing an awkward laugh. He could feel his voice shake and his eyes sting, but he knew he couldn't be that weak in front of his rival – Sasuke wouldn't understand, anyway. "I'm just gonna grab my stuff and I'll be off, then."

"Sure." Sasuke's eyes still followed his every move and Naruto felt nervous as he opened his desk top. God, now he really wanted to get the hell out of there as soon as possible, and maybe go home and cry for a couple hours. Maybe he could be a bit of an asshole, too, and pray that this person Sasuke was going out with would be a disappointment so they would break up. Either way, he felt beyond miserable.

He looked down at the inside in search for his wallet in the mess of papers and pens. He quickly found it, but that was not all that he found. His heart skipped a beat when his eyes landed upon what looked like a small wooden bento box. On top of it, there was a smaller box of expensive looking chocolates with a note attached to it. With his eyes wide, Naruto reached out a hand to read what it said, and the neat calligraphy was easily recognizable to him.

 _'Happy Valentine's Day, Uzuratonkachi.'_ It read _. 'I hope this will give you enough balls to finally talk to me. Uchiha Sasuke.'_

Naruto was speechless, staring at the note with his mouth opened and his heart beating frantically inside his chest, so much so that it hurt, but in a devastatingly wonderful way. Fuck, what was he supposed to do with himself?

Sasuke knew.

His breath was stuck in his lungs as he dared to look up and find Sasuke still watching him, his smirk having disappeared to be replaced by a small, gentle smile that had to be one of heaven's best creations.

The song had stopped playing, and only silence surrounded them.

"I know you have something to give me, too," Sasuke said, putting his phone away inside the pocket of his trousers as he approached Naruto. "You've been following me around all day, haven't you? You seemed sad every time you failed to talk to me. So, I want to see it."

Naruto's cheeks immediately caught fire because he would've never have guessed that Sasuke had noticed his presence, let alone the fact that he'd noticed his mood. Never in a million years would he have considered that the person he was in love with would ever be this perceptive about him.

With nervous gestures, Naruto picked up his wallet and the gifts and closed the desk top before carefully placing them over the desk. He quickly shoved his wallet inside his pocket and looked at the inside of the bento box to find a perfectly presented meal, complete with vegetables and fried egg and rice. It looked delicious and he wanted to try it badly.

Had Sasuke actually prepared this for him?

"I cooked it myself, if that's what you're wondering," Sasuke said, as is reading Naruto's mind, crossing his arms over his chest. "I didn't make the chocolate, though."

Naruto could squeal from happiness, but shock kept him from it.

"I… what I have for you is nothing compared to this…" he blabbered, covering the bento box once more.

Sasuke was now standing in front of him, close enough to touch if Naruto were to reach out his hand, and even this sort of proximity outside of anything but animosity seemed unreal.

"It's fine," Sasuke assured him. "If it's for me, I want it."

In spite of himself – and even though he felt nervous and embarrassed in ways he didn't expect to – Naruto dropped his backpack over his chair and rummaged through it until he fished out the package of crackers he'd baked. The poor thing was already wrinkled, the ribbons in poor shape, and most of the crackers had been crushed already. Still, he shyly extended them towards his classmate, who took them with a nod. Tensing, he watched as Sasuke untied the ribbons and opened the package before picking up a piece of cracker and bringing it to his mouth. With eyes wide, Naruto watched him chew thoughtfully. "They're salty," Sasuke said, as if this surprised him.

"I know you don't like sweets so… it seemed appropriate," Naruto explained, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm sorry they look like shit; I'm a terrible cook."

Sasuke's eyes softened in endearment. "They're tasty," he assured him, grabbing for another piece and eating it. Then, he sincerely said "Thank you. It was very thoughtful of you."

If it was physically possible to melt, Naruto was sure he would've done it. If he had ever needed a reason as to why he was in love with this person, this just had to be it. This kind of gentle and polite Sasuke that Naruto had so many times watched from afar and desired to get to know.

He couldn't believe this was happening. Sasuke had given him something for Valentine's day, and Naruto had managed to give Sasuke his gift, too.

Somehow, Naruto knew that this was his chance and he had to take it. Even if Sasuke had a girlfriend and was just being nice to him for some reason so he wouldn't feel bad on Valentine's day, this was the perfect opening, and regardless of the outcome, he decided to throw caution to the wind and express himself. At least Sasuke would hear it from him. After all, if he already knew of Naruto's feelings, it wasn't like it made a difference.

"Sasuke…" he mumbled, clenching his fists at his sides. "Does this, like… mean something for us?"

The other had the gall to look casually inquisitive. "I don't know. Does it?"

"I… I've liked you for a very long time," Naruto blurted out before his courage failed him. "I wanted you to know that, despite our relationship so far, I don't hate you at all. It doesn't matter if you have a girlfriend and don't like me back, I just didn't want us to graduate without you knowing, and…"

"Naruto," Sasuke interrupted him, frowning. "I noticed you left your wallet inside your desk, that's why I took the chance to put my presents there and waited for you to come and get them. I waited for you. You can't possibly be that clueless and look at this differently than it is."

Sasuke was… just brutally honest, wasn't he? And right now, Naruto didn't know how to deal with that at all.

It wasn't real. It just couldn't be real. After all these years of him agonizing, after a whole month preparing for this day, after…

"So… you're saying what I think you're saying?" Naruto asked, breathless and hesitantly.

"What is it that you think I'm saying?" Sasuke asked, rolling his eyes at him.

Naruto hesitated further. "That you… like me back?"

Sasuke sighed. "I certainly wasn't waiting here for over an hour for no 'girlfriend',"he said. "Idiot."

Naruto was sure that his heart was going to explode and that his body was going combust and maybe that he was just going to die from happiness. He wouldn't survive this day, he was sure.

He wasn't really thinking when he moved to be in Sasuke's personal space, and it was definitely on impulse that he put his hands on Sasuke's shoulders, leaned forward and pressed his mouth to the other teen's. More than being surprised, Sasuke simply released a soft sigh through his nose as if he somewhat felt an immense relief by the gesture.

It wasn't but a simple press of lips – Naruto was aware that he couldn't go all out and abuse something so new and so soon – but everything within Naruto seemed to shake when Sasuke's hand came up to softly touch his cheek. It felt better than anything he had ever experienced, as if his whole life had been lived to this pure moment of bliss. Making out with random people felt insignificant compared to even a simple kiss with someone you love, and Naruto knew that, indeed, this was what love truly felt like – this turmoil of things both so pure and obscene that clouded everything else.

They pulled apart and eyed his other in silence. Naruto could feel Sasuke breathing quickly, and the expression on his face was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. It felt as if the distance that had kept them apart for years had meant nothing. The proximity was a little embarrassing, but also strangely right.

"We should've done this before," Sasuke whispered. "But I guess we'll have time to make up for that."

Naruto could only nod and smile. He was so happy he could almost cry, but he wouldn't. He knew he and Sasuke still had a lot to work on, and things would probably progress slowly for them. There were so many things they didn't know about each other, and yet, at that moment, he felt like it didn't matter because, somehow, his heart had known Sasuke since forever, causing him to helplessly love him without even understanding why.

Had it been this way for Sasuke, too?

They had been pulled to each other for reasons unknown, and apparently, they all led down to this.

"You want to share the bento with me really quick?" Naruto asked timidly. "Then we could head home together?"

"If you want," Sasuke said, rubbing his thumb over Naruto's cheekbone carefully and smiling. "Also, I'm giving you all my chocolate. But you have to promise to eat mine, first."

Naruto couldn't help but laugh. "Of course."

The End

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